Simply the Wes, better than all the res

The ever-generous Wes has been dropping packages of cards down the chimney of many-a cardsphere boy and girl over the past week or two, and I was lucky enough to be included on his rounds.

Let's kick off with this beauty. The relic cut-outs on this Dave Winfield Triple Threads card trumpet the impressive fact that not only was he drafted by the Padres, both the Atlanta Hawks (NBA) and the Utah Stars (ABA) drafted him, too. And even though he didn't play college football, he was such an amazing athlete that the Minnesota Vikings selected him in the 17th round of the NFL draft just for the hell of it. I've got a pretty legit Winfield PC going these days, and this is a great addition to it.

Here are some more shiny Padres.

A couple Canadian Templeton cards (recently listened to an interesting interview with him on the Super70s podcast) and a jumbo relic of Rymer Liriano. Bummer that Rymer never panned out for the Padres. Looks like he last surfaced with the White Sox.

Wes tossed in some vintage too, including a bunch of 75s.

Of course any large Padre-centric mailing of cards will include some solid Tony Gwynn cards. I seem to recall those black-bordered Hometown Heroes parallels were tough pulls, just one-per-box or something like that.

But the real featured player here was definitely Bip. I don't mind a good Bipping now and then, especially when I can add a couple new cards to the PC.

Crossing over to football, here's a gorgeous Kenny Britt Christmas Card. If/when I do another "12 Days of Christmas Cards" countdown, this would be a good pick for Day 10.

A couple big hits for my Michael Sam PC!

Gavin Escobar hits galore!

When Wes asked if he could dump his Chargers cards on me, I reluctantly agreed to take them, but I had assumed they were just a boring stack of base Score and Pro Set or whatever. But no, some good stuff here, for sure!

But the best Chargers card...

1 of 1 Antonio Gates relic. Very nice!

Awesome stuff. Thanks so much, Wes. I'll hit you back with some stuff soon.

Dimebox delivery

I already showed the vintage portion of this package a few days ago, but here are the modern cards Dimebox Nick sent my way recently.

Always a treat to score a new Aaron Judge card in a trade, pictured here with a few other young studs.

Old-timers. Love the Kellogg's Mad Dog!

Nice lot of Beltre and Altuve.

I'm happy to take Nick's Shooter dupes, as I can usually find one or two I need.

Some shiny Padres.

Less shiny Padres (though that glare on the photo is trying its hardest to make them shine). Some good ones here, but I might have to give the nod to the dufex Caminiti as my fav.

Renfroe and Margot got shoved into pretty much every Topps product in 2017 (really the only question was whether they called Margot Manuel or Manny). I'm sure most of you collectors are sick of their cards by now, though I'm still happy to receive them, preferably cards I don't already have. Hopefully these guys build off their decent rookie campaigns next year for the Padres.

Brian Giles was represented.

I can already see my "We Didn't Start the Fire" Binder project causing me consternation in trade packages. Now any time I get a card that isn't easily identifiable as something I collect (e.g. a PC guy, set need, random Padre, etc), I have to ask myself, "Hmm.. Is this intended for the Billy Joel binder?" Especially non-sport cards. Traders, myself included, will sometimes just toss in random cards for no reason other than maybe the recipient would like/need it more than me. But now I'm on Joel Patrol with such cards. haha

With this trio, I know "Wheel of Fortune" will slot in right ahead of "Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide." And I admit I had to check the spreadsheet, but "Marciano" goes right before "Liberace, Santayana goodbye." As for the Civil Rights Act card, that one isn't as obvious, but I think this is for the "Alabama" slot. ("Alabama is the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott which ultimately led to the removal of the last race laws in the USA. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr figure prominently.")

(I also got a recent mailing from Bo with cards for the binder, but that'll have to wait for a future post.)

Let's wrap up the highlights from Nick's package with this oddity...

Ok, this is a weird one that I had to ask myself if it was for the Billy Joel Binder, as I've never collected Lincecum (and honestly was relieved that Zippy Zappy's oft-repeated prediction of the Padres signing Timmy at the sputtering end of his career never came to pass).

It's an interesting oddball that seems to from 2008. I'm pretty sure Nick collects Lincecum, so he must've already had another of the 500 copies out there. As a guy who enjoys making quirky custom cards, I can appreciate this one. But yeah, it's a weird one!

Thanks again for all the cards, Nick!

trade bait from the card show

I've got some great incoming trade packages crying out to be blogged about, so let's hurry up and wrap up the highlights from my December card show haul. The cards in this post are available for trade, so check out my wantlist and get in touch if something catches your eye.

These 2009 Topps Updates legend variations are pretty neat. They seem to "book" at about $5 a pop on COMC, so among my better buys of the day.

A couple vintage cards, both in pretty nice shape.

The wild 90s. Tino is reserved for the Lost Collector if he needs it, though I bet he has one of the 2500 made copies already.

Here's a /99 green Giant (ho ho ho), plus some Dodgers and Brewers.

This quartet of Nomos is Night Owl's to accept or reject. 1996 Select - En Fuego #25. 1995 Bowman 1st Impressions - Gold (looks like N.O. has this one already). 1996 Pinnacle Summit - Above and Beyond #40. 1998 Donruss Preferred - Great X-Pectations #14 (#'d /3000, with Irabu on back).

Numbered cards of Daniel Murphy and a Braves prospect.

Man, I love these overly-shiny cards.. almost to the point where I'm reluctant to trade them. But eh, neither is a guy I collect, so I could definitely be talked out of them.

Thanks for reading!

Acuna Moncada, what a wonderful phrase

Time for more of my recent card show haul.

I'm happy I got to make that Lion King reference, but regardless, a decent pair of Bowman cards. Ronald Acuna is a hot prospect for the Braves, while Yoan Moncada projects to be in the White Sox infield for many years to come after coming over from Boston in the Chris Sale deal.

Shiny Astros.

I hope Rhys Hoskins continues to rake in 2018.

Late, great legends. Gwynn /199, Munson is /999. Love the shine on Tony's glasses.

The only football card I picked up at the show was this LT.

It's not in very good condition, but glad I could finally add a rookie card to my little Puckett PC.

That's all for today.

card show haul continuation

Let's check out some more card show pickups from the other day.

I was really excited to find a cheap Dinelson Lamet auto. Padres fans like me are hoping he can blossom into an ace.

A couple nice Trouts, including a faux auto.

A couple Chrome purple refractor rookies, each #/299.

All rise! Serial-numbered Aaron Judge! Cha-ching, baby! And on the reverse side...

The Mick!

Shiny Rizzo (/199) and a Tek Turner RC.

A pair of Pujolses and the pride of El Cajon, 2017 World Champion Joe Musgrove. The blue refractors are /150.

Wrapping up with a trio of Dodgers (eh, ok Piazza is a Met here, but close enough). The Seager is /99. The Piazza Gallery of Heroes isn't done justice sitting flat on a coffee table, so let's hold that puppy up to the light...

That's more like it!

Thanks for reading. More next time.

The Greatest 25 Days: 2017 December card show

December 2nd.. wow, that's gotta be the earliest-in-the-month of the monthly card shows since I've been going to Portland's Mall 205 Sports Card and Collectible Show. Hey, I'm more than happy to keep away from the mall the farthest away from Christmas as possible, so I'm happy about this date. Much greater than 21 or so days from now, with St. Nick banging on the chimney. No one wants to be at the mall then.

Backtracking a little, my wife and I went to the 2017 Holiday Ale Fest last night. It was a lot of fun and we tried a bunch of interesting beers. The clear favorite for us was Three Mugs Brewing Company's Mrs. Claus's Peppermint Desire White Chocolate Ale. With a name like that, it could have gone either way, but man, it was great. But anyways, luckily my hangover this morning wasn't too bad, so it didn't effect my cardshowing, though I did keep in tight, in and out in under a couple hours.

Let's check out some highlights!

Here's a card I couldn't slam onto my stack fast enough, though I tried to play it cool. Vintage '61 Maris oddball for under a buck? Yes, please! It's got some crayon on the otherwise blank back, but still. I don't collect Maris very much, mainly because he reminds me of a certain neighborhood bully from my childhood, but hey, this was a no-brainer.

The vintage oddball scores continue with this Winfield rookie disc. I remember seeing it at the last show, but thought I had it already so passed it up, but I think I had it confused with Nate Colbert. I was happy to come across it again and not let it slip away a second time. It's a 1974 McDonald's San Diego Padres Disc. Probably came in the bottom of a Coke or something. Even with this one being miscut, I think this is like at least a $10 item (cheapest on COMC right now is $48.25), so a good deal. All the cards I bought today were from Bill's 7-for-$5 bins, by the way. Oh man, there was a scary moment today when Bill collapsed on the floor. His wife (who helps spot him at the shows) was understandably freaking out a little. Bill played it off like it wasn't a big deal, that he was leaning against the table and his elbow gave out. But man, I was right there, and it really seemed like he briefly passed out. But he seemed to be ok after he got up, so I went back to thumbing through the cards. If his wife rushed him off to the hospital mid-show, what's the etiquette there? What would be the fate of my stack?! I shouldn't be glib about it. But yeah, Bill isn't a young man anymore and he smokes like a chimney. It probably wouldn't be a shock to arrive at a show one of these months and him not being there, permanently. That would suck though. He's a good guy, not to mention my go-to dealer at the show. Anyways, back to the cards.

A couple short-term-stop legends.

While I'm not crazy about the Gold Label reboot (they should be on Chrome stock, damn it, not foilboard), I still am a sucker for parallels. Goldschmidt /99, Donaldson /75, Votto /50.

And some nice unnumbered black parallels.

Maybe you remember my post from the November show where I lamented passing up some 2017 Museum Collection "Canvas Collection" cards? Well, lucky me, they were still there this show (except the Kris Bryant seems to have been snatched up, but a Cal from 2016 popped up in his place). As I said then, I don't really care for mass-produced art cards like this (see also 2017 Topps Gallery). But hey, for the right price, I'll pick up PC guys.

Ok, let's call it good for today, but I've still got probably 2 or 3 more posts worth of cards from the show. See ya next time!

Vintage set needs from the Dimebox Dad

Dimebox Nick's dad asked if I could help create a little music-related custom set. And to return the favor, they took my '64 and '57 Topps wantlists to their recent card show and kindly knocked off several needs for me.

Wow, here's some starpower! Four HOF sluggers on one vintage card. It's definitely well-loved, and I wouldn't rule out upgrading sometime down the line if the opportunity presented itself, but if not, so be it. Terrific card.

The HOF parade continues with these big names. Looks like the Ron Santo may have been some kid's walletcard back in the mid 60s. I'm still happy to check it off my list.

More '64s. Some good stuff here, highlighted by Rocky Colavito, a rookie trophy, and a World Series card. Nearly to the midway point with this set now, sitting at 46.86%.

Now onto a dozen '57s.

I know of Sal Maglie from Ball Four (currently 53.64% through that book). Joe Nuxhall is another name that rings a bell, known as being the youngest MLB player ever when he briefly pitched for the Reds as a 15 year old.

Man, I really like the look of this set. At 18.94% complete, I've got a long way to go, but I'm not in a big hurry.

Very much appreciated, Nick's Dad! Thanks a lot, and I'm looking forward to working on that customs project with you.

Nick also included a bunch of other great cards in the package, but I'll save those for another post.

Have a great weekend, everybody. I've got a Holiday Beer Festival on tap and a card show, so it should be a fun weekend for me.